August 2013 Grocery Challenge

CountingPennies

£67.19 left in my "grocery" account, and today is the last day. So paid of off a debt (feeling rather pleased with myself) instead of wasting it on food i don't actually need.

So declaring my budget over for the month at £412.81p as i don't need anything today. Payday tomorrow (well it hits my account tonight :cool: ) so i'm off to meal plan and write shopping list and hit the september thread!

Never thought that would have happened in a million years this month! :j

meg72

Puddickle wrote: »

I'll be back on here on Friday to update properly. But I don't think that we've got much more to buy, if anything - and seem to have come in well under our £450 target. Given the month before (and most of them before that!) we were spending £800-£900 on food in a given month this is quite simply astounding. We have done a complete life overhaul - and are really excited to keep it going. We have plenty of motivation, we just need to stay on track, and never ever get ourselves in this mess again.

In fact - not only have we saved on food - but we should be able to pay just over £800 onto our credit card debts this month. That is a complete result, given that we completely ran out of money in July, and yet we've managed to save £hundreds instead just one month later!

We feel like we're at a crossroads right now - and we have two paths to take. One path is to carry on, moaning that we never have any money... all the while, spending and frittering without even noticing. The other path is to scrimp, save, be tight with our money and see what rewards we can achieve from it.

I actually can't wait to update my signature!

Oh well done love ,so pleased for you. go on scrimp save and be tight the rewards of being debt free are priceless.but I would say also have the occasional treat,it helps keep you going

xx_Jo_xx

Well done to those reaching the end of the month and seeing the benefit!! My month ends the 9th and was about to look at an online shop tonight, however, inspired by you guys, I'm heading back to my already-stocked cupboards and freezers to re-jig the rest of my month :-)

Thanks x

meg72

angelatgraceland wrote: »

I am now making dog biscuits by the second recipe on the list. however-Ive set my quantities as my pizza recipe plus the egg and an extra bit of flour as Im not sure about using cup measurements. I will let you all know how it turns out!

This takes me back a few years, dont have a dog now or a family to cook for, but when I did I used to use flour and the fat out of the grill pan to make a crumble and then use a bit of meat stock , or an oxo to make pastry, cut into biscuits and bake.when the oven was on for something else. My little old staffie used to go wild when she smelt them cooking.

smokies

I must remember to leave my purse at home
I must remember to leave my purse at home .....

In our Mr S today dishwasher tablets where reduced from £5.50 to £1.38 per box.......and with my 10% discount .... I ended up by 4 boxes.....

gone over my food budget buying about £10.00 this week ...........

I must remember to leave my purse at home xxxx

CherryPie

Where does the time go?? What do you mean there's a September page?? :rotfl:

So I've lurked here all month, and quietly updated my signature while reading all of your posts to keep me motivated. Signing off at £112.67? or whatever my signature says! But defo under budget.

Made some lovely new recipes this month, some of which were made up on the spot.

Off to a caravan next week for a break with Mum, Niece (19 & 7 months pregnant) and Niece 17. Meals planned for while we're away, and maybe a treat or 2 to boot.

Will be making some ginger & cinnamon biscuits, to take with us. But I suspect the 19 yr old will scoff them on day 1!!


:beer:

she_who_can_not_cook

CherryPie wrote: »

Where does the time go?? What do you mean there's a September page?? :rotfl:

So I've lurked here all month, and quietly updated my signature while reading all of your posts to keep me motivated. Signing off at £112.67? or whatever my signature says! But defo under budget.

Made some lovely new recipes this month, some of which were made up on the spot.

Off to a caravan next week for a break with Mum, Niece (19 & 7 months pregnant) and Niece 17. Meals planned for while we're away, and maybe a treat or 2 to boot.

Will be making some ginger & cinnamon biscuits, to take with us. But I suspect the 19 yr old will scoff them on day 1!!


:beer:

Recipe pleeeeeeeeaaaaassssseeeeeeee

Nicky_Noo_Na

Hi all.

Far too much spending this BH weekend!

Fri - Mr S
Sat - Mr T
Sun - Mr S and Mr A
Mon - Mr S and Mr T

Crazy crazy! Some of it was various b'day and anniversary pressies so grocery spends not toooooo bad considering so many shops and got a few great YS items. Total grocery spend over the weekend was £45.04.

Not sure why we are spending so much on food as main meals have been from the freezer this week as still no kitchen but we've stocked up on quite a few offers like crisps, chocolate and fruit and the freezer is rammed full of YS goodies!

Only £2.20 spent at the chippy on Fri and apart form that I've managed to cobble stuff together between the microwave, kettle and toaster in the living room. Last micro meal tomorrow and shoudl have an oven again for the weekend - yippee!

Bornagainshopaholic

Hello all, well my first month of this grocery challenge didn't turn out too badly! I've a few days left, but I don't actually need to buy any more food of any description.

I'm £4.82 over of spending the whole £200, which I'm pleased with. I would have been in budget but yesterday I spotted some spices that I've been trying to find for ages so I stocked up. I also went slightly over my £100 entertainment budget by £3.49, but then I did drink a lot of wine earlier this month!

I still have so much food in the fridge, freezer and cupboards, that I really think £200 was perhaps a little too generous, and I intend to aim for £190 in September. I'll eke it down a tenner a month until I find the amount that's most frugal, but not a hardship.

This process has forced me to be more inventive in the kitchen, and I've discovered some absolutely amazing recipes (Spicy Chickpea and Potato Fry Up being the winner, along with Carrot, Chickpea and Almond Pilaf - I've had a lot of tins of chickpeas to use up..).

Looking forward to September's challenge now!

Billie-jo

puddickle - you have done amazingly well.

No spends to add but shopping day tomorrow and then fruit & veg Saturday.